Volmarr's Modernist Heathenism for Solitary PractitionersBlog containing my rituals and practices. I follow the Norse gods, but am neither a Wiccan nor a strict reconstructionist. My focus is on the spiritual, mystical, and magickal aspects of Heathenism and forms of practice that make Heathenism valid for the modern times, and present day needs, and as a path towards enlightenment and spiritual growth.

“Hail Freyr! Son of Njord. Brother of Freyja. Husband of Gerd. Trusted friend of Skirnir. Descendant of the Vanir. Harvest god and wealth-giver. King of Alfheim. Blot-god of the Swedes. Possessor of Skidbladnir, and the boar known as Gullinbursti. Beli’s slayer. Enemy of Surtr. Wielder of the stag-horn. Fruitful one. Sure giver. Father of the Yngling line. Lord of the Volsi!”

All respond:

“Hail Freyr!”

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Few silent deep breaths.

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“Now is the end of the Yule time. We have safely made it out of the turbulent chaotic energies of the Wild Hunt, and now the smoother flowing energies of the start of the new year cycle are upon us. We can be very thankful for making it through the holiday season. The old year cycle having been swept away by the Wild Hunt, now we can start anew, working on new greater things for this year cycle.”

“Now is a good time, if so desired to make an oath to accomplish some task or tasks for the coming year cycle. Any oaths made at this time shall have their greatest power since we stand now at the very first day of the new year cycle. Now is a time to plant the ideas of what you wish to come in this coming year. Remember though that any oaths made before any of the Gods must be followed through on, so do not make any oaths that you do not intend to keep. Take some moments now to think about what if any oaths you wish to make at this time.”

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Few silent deep breaths.

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Say any oaths you wish to make. You may if you have one place your right hand on an oath ring or a Thor’s Hammer or other holy object while making the oaths.

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Few silent deep breaths.

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“This is the time of year to give thanks to Freyr for all the blessings he has given us in the now past year, and to ask that his blessings shall continue in the coming year. Freyr is the god of the harvest, harvest means more then just the gathering of crops, as there is a type of harvest which is the receiving of anything of value in our life. Thus all positive things we have gained are due to this harvest energies of Freyr. Giving thanks reinforces what it is we wish more of in the future, and also is a way to be grateful for all that is given to us. Being grateful sets the patterns in Wyrd for more of what we are grateful for to follow in the future. Think of all things you are grateful for at this time and also all things you wish more of in the coming year.”

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Few silent deep breaths.

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Say any and all things you are grateful for from the last year. Word it like ‘I am grateful for ____’.

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Now state any things you would like more of in your life in the coming year. Please feel free to say as many things as you would like, and do not feel guilty about any of it. Say it like this ‘May there be more ____ in my life this year.’

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Few silent deep breaths.

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Now trace the Sign of the Hammer over the cookies. Fill your horn up with mead.

Hold the horn up while saying:

“Hail Freyr, god of prosperity and the harvest, I am thankful to you for all your many blessings!”

All chant:

“Hail Freyr!”

Drink some of mead and pass horn. Pour remaining into offering bowl.

Eat a cookie and pass the cookies around so everyone may get one, and put the rest of the cookies into the offering bowl for Freyr.

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Use the pine twig to splash a bit of the liquid in the offering bowl on yourself, on any others in the ritual with you, on your altar, on the ritual space, and in all general areas of your dwelling as well. Does not need to be much splashed around, just a little is fine. This helps to imbue more of the energies of the ritual on you, and others who may also in the ritual with you, and to your place.

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“Now my rite has ended. May all gathered here fare well on their return to their home places. And may the bonds of frith between us grow, gods, wights, and humans alike. Until we meet again.”

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Pour out the offerings from the offering bowl outside:

“A gift for a gift”

Trace gebo at spot offerings were given to.

“GEBO!”

Pour out remaining blessed water outside.

“I pour the sacred water back to the Earth so it may find it’s way back to the Well of Wyrd”

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Now at this point it is very important to ground your energies. This should always be done after every ritual. Not doing so can lead to problems in the long-run. Grounding is like shifting gears in a car, except it is the process of shifting brain states. During rituals you create a trance like brain state, which is desired for during rituals or for during any spiritual practices. But trance states are not good for doing everyday mundane things. You need to return your mind back to the normal state of consciousness after the ritual is finished. That is what grounding is.

The most simple and common method to ground is to visualize yourself as a tree and see roots growing into the ground from the base of your spine and going down into the earth. Sometimes rituals require industrial strength grounding as they can really create some intense energy. In that case you can try the following triple grounding method.:

First visualize your chakras. You picture in your mind closing first the top one and then seeing a sort of lid closing over it, then proceed with the net lower chakra and so on. You want to leave the bottom most chakra, the root chakra fully open as this is your connection to grounding. Don’t be concerned about having the others closed, the normal proper function of them is that they open and close as needed. Problems with being ungrounded happen when one of more of them are stuck open. Only the bottom one is to be left open at all times.

Next step is to picture a ball of pure white light above your head. Now let this white light slowly descent downward into your body and slowly move lower. As it descends it takes with it any unneeded, old, and negative energies. It is sort of sweeping downward through your energies taking all you no longer need with it. Once it reaches your feet let it move lower till it passes down through the floor. If you are on an upper close let it pass all the way to the ground. Let the earth take this energy to recycle it.

Now final step is to do the traditional grounding. Picture yourself as a tree. Visualize roots coming out of the base of your spine and going down into the Earth. Feel the calmness of a tree, the rooted solidness.

If after these three things you still feel hyper or spaced out you can either eat some food, or put a small amount of salt on your tongue. Another thing you can do is prostrate down to the ground, placing your head on the ground and stay like this for a few moments.

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Feel free to copy and use this ritual so long as you acknowledge the source.

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Blogroll

A Heathen's Path
– His getting started entries are very good heart felt information about practicing Heathenism. Very nice easy down to earth approach to the practice. Recommended.

Amarina's Journey
– An interesting journal about a mystical Norse spiritual journey. Recommended. Contains adult content. Is connected to Freyja’s path. She also made my rune graphics I use on my blog and websites.

Essential Asatru
– This is the best book to get for anyone new to Heathenism. It gives a very well researched, accurate, fair and balanced perspective on things. Highly recommended.

Futhark
– This is the first book to start with for learning the runes and the magickal systems related to them. First before starting to study the runes though gain a complete knowledge of the gods and goddesses and Norse cosmology and understand wyrd.

Ingeborg's Norse Heathen Pages
– This is a mirror site of my friend Ingeborg’s old webpage on Heathenism. It has not been updated in a long time. She was the one who taught me Heathenism way back in time. She is extremely knowledgable on the subject.

Nine Worlds Travel Guide
– Fancinating modern lore on the nine worlds derived from present day shaman’s traveling there. It has lots of details and includes places, things, and beings of all the various worlds and places. Very recommended.

Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner
– Once you are already practicing Heathenism and know it fairly well, this is a must read book. It is all about making your practice more spiritually focused. Ignore the Loki and giant stuff in it.

Our Troth Book 1
– Very in depth well research, HUGE, two set of books. Once you get past the beginner stage you should tackle reading these. Between the both of them they are close to 1000 pages, so not for the beginner anyways.

Our Troth Book 2
– This is the second book of Our Troth. Just as massively filled with information as the first one.